


Hero

by gleeksfreaksandwannabes



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Other, alec is emotional, aline and alec friendship, jace is still missing, reimagined scene from the books, show universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-31 02:03:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8559061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gleeksfreaksandwannabes/pseuds/gleeksfreaksandwannabes
Summary: Alec had come out for himself, because he had allowed himself to love, and until now he hadn't thought his actions had impacted anyone outside the New York Institute, but when reinforcements are called to help find Jace, Alec learns that his bravery had changed more lives than just his and Magnus'.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so I know I just posted a while ago, but when Todd told us we might be getting Aline in 2B, I was thinking about one of my favorite scenes between her and Alec in the books, and I decided to kind of reimagine it for the show universe.
> 
> This one is dedicated to deadspacedame on [tumblr](http://deadspacedame.tumblr.com) and on [here](http://archiveofourown.org/users/deadspacedame/pseuds/deadspacedame) (she's a great writer, go check out her stuff!) if she hadn't encouraged me I probably wouldn't have posted this at all, so thank you Aylene!
> 
> As always, my tumblr is  
> [here](http://gleeksfreaksandwannabes.tumblr.com), feel free to come and bug me, I don't mind! Enjoy!!

"How are you feeling?" Alec's sister asked him for what must have been the fifth time that day. 

It had been three weeks, and they still hadn't gotten any closer to bringing Jace back. Three weeks of nothing but the dull ache in Alec's parabatai rune, drawing the life out of him agonizingly slowly, and dead ends. Every now and then Alec's rune would burn, searing shots of pain shooting up his torso straight to his heart, and he was sure that it meant something, but each time it happened he had been left with nothing but a bone-numbing weakness and a rapid heartbeat. Magnus' magic helped, sending cooling pulses through his bloodstream, sometimes numbing the ache in his side completely if he was lucky, but with each beat of his heart he could feel the ache of his missing brother, palpable as can be, pressing on every bone and vessel in his body, every artery in his heart, pushing him down until he collapsed into bed each night and prayed for the release of sleep.

He felt utterly useless. Everyone was working more than overtime to bring Jace home, but sometimes it felt as if standing up had taken all of Alec's energy, and his mind fogged over until he sat down again. The others understood, of course, they knew separating parabatai was dangerous for the both of them, and that Alec wouldn't be alright again until Jace was back, but it didn't stop Alec from feeling frustrated. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes,

"I'm fine, Isabelle,"

"Are you sure? Because I can just tell Lydia that you're not up to seeing the Penhallows," Alec shook his head. He had been the one to convince Aldertree to bring in the Penhallows to help in the first place; they needed all the help they could get bringing Jace home, and his parents luckily still had relatively amicable ties with Patrick and Jia.

"Who are the Penhallows?" Clary asked, piping up from her spinning chair, sat beside Isabelle and Alec in the ops centre.

"Jia Penhallow was the head of the Beijing Institute, now she's in the running to be Consul." Alec told her "She, her husband Patrick and their daughter Aline are coming to help us find Jace."

"The inquisitor wants Jace arrested for taking Valentine's side," Isabelle added "but with a bit of luck Jia's pull with the Clave will get him out of it when we find him. Did you hear they're bringing Helen and Sebastian?" she asked Alec, turning to Clary to clarify, "Helen's a family friend, and Sebastian is Aline's cousin," Alec felt a wave of dizziness then, reaching for the nearest chair to lean on as he let out a breath,

"You're not fine, are you?" Isabelle said sternly "Let me call Magnus,"

"Isabelle," despite his exhaustion, the big brother tone still deepened Alec's voice "I'm fine. They'll be here in a minute anyway--" a shining portal materialized by the training room then, and the three looked up to see a dark haired family of three emerge, followed by a tall slender girl with ethereal blonde hair, and a boy who looked to be around Jace's age with a sharp face and a shock of black hair.

Alec, Isabelle and Clary turned and the click of high heels and saw Lydia and Victor Aldertree making their way towards the visitors, each introducing themselves,

"Of course you know the Lightwoods," Lydia indicated Alec and Isabelle,

"Hi," Aline said to Alec, a little breathlessly as he shook her hand. He hadn't seen her since she was a baby, but her warm almond eyes hadn't changed, nor had her silky black hair, now curling towards her waist. He blinked at her apparent shyness, but smiled and greeted her all the same.

"And this," Lydia said, indicating Clary "is Clarissa Fairchild," Isabelle had engaged Helen, Sebastian and Clary in conversation almost immediately, leaving Aline to shyly catch Alec's attention,

"I need to tell you something," she said, grabbing his wrist "in private."

"My father's office is free," he told her, leading the way out of the ops centre.

Once they were in the office, Alec shut the door, and had just turned around in time for Aline to wrap him in a tight hug, standing on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck,

"What was that for?" he asked as she let go, lowering herself back down and looking up at him through her eyelashes,

"To thank you," she said after a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing "I followed your wedding, you know," she said with a nervous chuckle "I mean, it was a union between two of the most well known shadowhunter families, how could I not?" her nervous laughter died down after a moment, and Alec watched as she wrung her hands,

"I heard all about how you called off the wedding, how you kissed Magnus Bane in front of all those people," she said it with such contained wonderment, Alec couldn't help the bittersweet smile on his face; she was proud of him, but had probably been taught to push that feeling aside, just like he had. "You inspired me, Alec,"

"What?" Alec blinked.

"To come out," Aline clarified "it must have been so terrifying for you, kissing Magnus in front of all those people - at your own wedding! - but you were so fearless, you just -- did it, and I figured if you could do that then I could tell me parents." she said with a small smile "so I did."

"Wait, I helped you?" Alec was dumbfounded. He hadn't been fearless at the wedding, not even close. In fact, it had been one of the scariest things he had ever done, but he had done it for himself, for the first time in his life, he had chosen himself, his feelings, over duty or honor or anything else his parents drilled into him. But he had never expected anyone to be inspired by him, hadn't realized the magnitude of his decision until this moment, looking into the grateful smile of a young gay shadowhunter, just like him, who had come out to her parents because he had chosen love, just like she had.

"Yeah," Aline said softly "you did. I figured everything would all be ok if I opened myself up to finding a love like you did with Magnus, no matter how hard it was to tell my parents."

"And did you?" Alec asked.

"I found Helen," Aline replied with a smile "I think she might be my Magnus," her cheeks tinted pink at the smile Alec gave her before her face turned serious again "Alec, you were the first gay shadowhunter I'd ever known, you inspired me to make the best decision of my life, and I know you don't see it now, but one day it's going to be OK for us to love whoever we want, and people are going to come out knowing that you were one of the first out shadowhunters. You're going to be their inspiration and their hero someday, just like you are to me." Alec's eyes burned with tears, and he blinked them away, sniffing roughly before pulling Aline into another hug, his chin resting on top of her head,

"Thank you," he murmured, closing his eyes as he held her close. She would never know what her words meant to him. He couldn't tell her, didn't know how, but if all the fear and uncertainty he felt, the anger and disgust of his parents and the Clave, all led to this one moment, where he had changed Alines' life, and maybe the lives of other young shadowhunters still in the closet out there, then he decided that coming out so publicly was more than worth it.


End file.
